Judges 8:5-7

8:5 He said to the men of Succoth, “Give¹ some loaves of bread to the men² who are following me,³ because they are exhausted. I am chasing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.” 8:6 The officials of Succoth said, “You have not yet overpowered Zebah and Zalmunna. So why should we give⁴ bread to your army?”⁵ 8:7 Gideon said, “Since you will not help,⁶ after the Lord hands Zebah and Zalmunna over to me, I will thresh⁷ your skin⁸ with⁹ desert thorns and briers.”

¹tn Or perhaps, “sell.”

²tn Heb “people.” The translation uses “men” because these were warriors and in ancient Israelite culture would have been exclusively males.

³tn Heb “who are at my feet.”

⁴tn Or perhaps, “sell.”

⁵tn Heb “Are the palms of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give to your army bread?” Perhaps the reference to the kings’ “palms” should be taken literally. The officials of Succoth may be alluding to the practice of mutilating prisoners or enemy corpses (see R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 155).

sn The officials of Succoth are hesitant to give (or sell) food to Gideon’s forces because they are not sure of the outcome of the battle. Perhaps they had made an alliance with the Midianites which demanded their loyalty.

⁶tn Heb “Therefore.”

⁷sn I will thresh. The metaphor is agricultural. Threshing was usually done on a hard threshing floor. As farm animals walked over the stalks, pulling behind them a board embedded with sharp stones, the stalks and grain would be separated. See O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 63-65. Gideon threatens to use thorns and briers on his sledge.

⁸tn Or “flesh.”

⁹tn This is apparently a rare instrumental use of the Hebrew preposition אֵת (’et, note the use of ב [bet] in v. 16). Some, however, argue that אֵת more naturally indicates accompaniment (“together with”). In this case Gideon envisions threshing their skin along with thorns and briers, just as the stalks and grain are intermingled on the threshing floor. See C. F. Burney, Judges, 229-30.